Being an elementary general music teacher in this day and age is a complex and demanding profession. One reality of the profession is the increased prevalence of special needs students who are assimilated into inclusive music classrooms, particularly students with autism. According to a 2009 National Center for Disease Control and Prevention Autism Prevalence Report, autism occurs in roughly 1 in every 110 births (or 1 in 70 boys), and diagnosis rates are rising 10-17 % per year (Hourigan & Hourigan, 2009). As a result of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) of 1990, children with autism have the right to enroll in public education, which means that elementary music teachers are finding themselves with an increasing number of children with autism under their care in an inclusive and/or self-contained classroom setting. Unfortunately, many elementary music teachers know little about how to best serve and teach children with autism. This deficit is the result of many factors, stemming from insufficient in-service teacher education opportunities provided by administrations and sparse preparation in collegiate music education programs about how to best teach children with special needs.

Encouraging for the music educator is the fact that, even though children with autism come into the music classroom with special needs and challenges, they also often come with musical abilities and talents that equal or surpass those of their general education classmates (Thaut, 1988). Applebaum, Eagle, Koegel, and Imhoff (1979) observed the accuracy of musical imitation (pitch, rhythm, and duration) in children with autism, and found that autistic children performed as well as or better than normally functioning children in such an activity. According to Thaut (1988), a music therapist and researcher, "Children on the autistic spectrum often have a remarkable capability and responsiveness to music as compared to most other areas of their behavior, as well as in comparison with typical children."

Characteristics of Autism
Autism is often referred to as a spectrum disorder due to the variety of its characteristics, and the range of severity that is unique to each child with autism. The federal regulations IDEA define autism as follows:
Other characteristics of autism include the following: repeating words or phrases, unresponsiveness to verbal cues, social difficulties, oversensitivity to sensory stimulation (light, sound, etc.), resistance to change, lack of direct eye contact, and odd or unusual play and self-stimulating behaviors such as arm flapping (Hourigan & Hourigan, 2009).

What Research Suggests

Using Music and Movement with the Special Needs Learner
Piaget (1971), a cognitive development psychologist, found that in the pre-operational and concrete operational cognitive stages, children learn best by exploring their environment through the senses and movement. This learning in turn elicits pictorial representations, which later become building blocks for symbols and language. Such findings are easily transferable to the music classroom, where children must first experience music through bodily movement experiences, before attaching musical notation to what they have experienced.

In an action research project, Charles (2010) examined the impact of incorporating music and movement into teaching strategies for children with special needs in the subject areas of reading and math. Findings of the study revealed that, when asked about their perceptions of adding movement to math and reading classes, five students in grades 1-6 with emotional and behavioral disorders preferred such a combination. Reported student observations included noted decreases in disruptive behavior, and improved achievement scores in math and reading when music and movement were incorporated into instruction. Charles notes that when incorporating music and movement into instructional strategies for special needs children, it is important to teach movement in small segments, consider the level of difficulty of the task at hand (e.g., age level, whether there are sensory issues to take note of such as high pitched sounds) and to seek an avoidance of over-stimulation for the student.

Combining Songs with Pre-Established Routines
As previously stated, one characteristic of autism is adherence to routine (Hourigan & Hourigan, 2009). Not surprisingly, since research has shown that children with autism often have preferences and gifts for music, recent research also has shown that the combination of certain familiar songs with pre-established routines may be quite beneficial to helping children with autism complete everyday activities. Aldridge, Kern, and Wakeford (2007) conducted a case study investigating the effectiveness of adding songs embedded in ongoing classroom routines as structural prompts to increase the independence of a 3-year-old boy with autism during multi-step, self-care tasks. Results showed that combinations of certain familiar songs, with pre-established routines, may be beneficial to helping children with autism complete everyday self- care tasks. Elementary music educators can find hope and encouragement in this finding, for often their classrooms are centered on providing sung directions for students. If a music educator can combine structured routines with sung directions of previously learned and familiar songs, a child with autism may have greater potential for success in classroom activities.

Suggestions for Teaching Practice

Advocating for Your Music Classroom
The reality of many current elementary schools is that children with autism are often mainstreamed into general education music classrooms. When working with children with autism, I would recommend strongly advocating for a self-contained music classroom, or a classroom that only includes children with autism. In my thesis research study, "Perceptions of Teacher and Speech Language Pathologist Regarding the Use of Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory with Children with Autism," I have personally observed that such an environment is more conducive to music learning for children with autism. By allowing children with autism to have a self-contained music classroom, I believe the music educator is better able to offer differentiated instruction to meet each individual child's specific educational needs, which in turn is likely to help each child more fully develop in their music learning and exploration. In my own experience, depending on the severity of the specific diagnosis on the autistic spectrum, often there is higher potential for meltdowns and frustration on the part of the student when children with autism are mainstreamed into a general music classroom. We often naturally tailor music instruction to the general education population and don't take into consideration the specific educational and musical needs of children with autism, or any special needs student for that matter. In addition, large group settings are often overwhelming for children with autism, and do not provide an optimal environment for individualized instruction. Teaching students with autism in a self- contained setting can help alleviate these issues.

Pure Music-Making
In my thesis work and field experience, I have come to realize that in working with children with autism in both self-contained and mainstreamed elementary music classrooms, it is best to use as little spoken language as possible and instead provide this population of students with many and varied experiences in "pure music-making" activities. "Pure music-making" involves things such as minimal verbal communication, songs without words, movement, tonal and rhythmic pattern exploration, and improvisation activities. Without the hindrance of spoken language, which is often a challenge for children with autism, such children are able to "communicate musically" through tone and rhythm, in ways that are truly remarkable and often equal or surpass those of their general education classmates. Since research and popular opinion suggest that children with autism often have remarkable musical gifts and respond positively to tone in combination with verbal directions, I would recommend speaking as little as possible to this population of learner in the elementary general music classroom, instead focusing on non-verbal communication and the pure music-making mediums of tone and rhythm. I have observed that if a music educator is focused on creating a playful music environment that is primarily focused on reciprocal music communication between teacher and student, children with autism respond with a heightened engagement to such instruction, which in turn seems to encourage a deeper level of overall enjoyment in the elementary music classroom.

Conclusions

The task of educating a child with autism in the elementary general music classroom can be daunting, even for the most seasoned music educator. However, we can also find hope in the knowledge that children with autism often come into our classrooms with remarkable musical ability. If, as music educators, we take the time and effort necessary to educate ourselves about how to best awaken musical ability in this population of learners, we will not only provide children with autism a successful experience in the classroom but will be inspired by how these children musically respond to our instruction. If as music educators we are truly concerned with providing all the children who come through our doors with a rich and successful experience in the music classroom, can any of us afford not to make this goal a high priority in the classroom?

References:
Elizabeth Crabtree is a graduate of The University of Michigan, currently an elementary music teacher for Farmington and Pinckney Community Schools, and is currently finishing her thesis work for her Masters of Music Education at the University of Michigan. She would be happy to answer any questions about her thesis work or about working with children with autism in the elementary music classroom. She can be reached at ecrabtree [at] pcs.k12.mi.us or elizabeth.crabtree [at] farmington.k12.mi.us.